no title

What's happening onstage and backstage in theater, comedy and the arts

The Book of Mormon: Central Ohioan Graham Bowen on the joy of working in one of Broadway’s biggest hits

By: Michael Grossberg

The Columbus Dispatch - December 17, 2012 04:17 PM

Being even a small part of one of Broadway’s biggest hits can be a thrill.
Central Ohio native Graham Bowen, 30, has had fun for more than a year as dance captain and a
swing performer in
The Book of Mormon, the 2011 Tony winner for best musical and still one of the hottest
tickets in New York.
“We haven’t had a single night without a full house and a standing ovation,” Bowen said.
“I’ve learned there’s no lack of excitement and enjoyment in being a part of it... A
lot of times, you’re fortunate when you can land a job that lasts longer than a year. This has been
a great ride."

Rory O’Malley, center, with ensemble, and Josh Gad, sitting right, in a scene from
The Book of Mormon at New York’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre. Credit: Joan Marcus

Bowen, a former Hilliard resident, will always remember the thrill of performing in the first
Broadway preview in February 2011 of the musical satire conceived by the
South Park co-creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone and
Avenue Q co-creator Robert Lopez.
"Our first appearance before an audience was an out-of-body experience," Bowen said.
"Llstening to the audience as they watched us do it was a thrill," he said.
The show went on to receive 14 Tony nominations and won eight, including best musical.

One secret of the show's success is its no-holds-barred willingness to go where few (if any)
Broadway musicals have gone before.
“We all think some things that we don’t voice,” Bowen said.
But Stone and Parker and Lopez aren't afraid to voice them - which may help explain, Bowen
said, their success with edgy, boundary-breaking musical comedies.
"Matt, Trey and Bobbie aren’t afraid to cross the line on certain subjects... They say: ‘Why
not?” Bowen said.
And when Bowen was asked to join
The Book of Mormon team, he said a metaphorical "why not" as well.
"People have been very surprised at the recognition we’re receiving from audiences. Their
humor is just a little more daring. They take an everyday situation and push it to where it’s
funniest, no matter how awkward that may be.”
Stone and Parker made their Broadway debuts with the show about the absurdist and horrifying
ups and downs of the journey of two young idealistic Mormon missionaries sent from Utah to Uganda
to confront disease, war, violence and other nightmares.
“Their humor is just a little more daring. They take an everyday situation and push it to
where it’s funniest, no matter how awkward that may be,” Bowen said.

Graham Bowen today. File photo

FROM SPAMALOT TO MORMONBowen also served as dance captain on the first national tour of
Spamalot, an earlier example of the extension of a world-renowned comedy brand to musical
theater.
In both cases, Bowen's job was to maintain the choreographer's vision once the shows opened.
"They are very particular," he said.
"I’m not a nightly performer, as the swing. So I stay on and watch the show and take notes
and make sure that the pictures look correct and that the dances are executed as originally
intended. As we get new company members, it’s my responsibility to help prepare each performer.”

A scene from
The Book of Mormon at New York’s Eugene O’Neill Theatre. Credit: Joan Marcus

With
The Book of Mormon, Bowen has served his fourth stint as dance captain on Broadway. He
moved into that mostly offstage role in the 2003 Broadway revival of
Gypsy that starred Bernadette Peters.
One factor in Bowen getting his job with
Mormon was the good working relationship he developed with choreographer-director Casey
Nicholaw, who choreographed
Spamalot and choreographed and directed
The Drowsy Chaperone . Nicholaw choreographed
Mormon and co-directed it with Parker.
Bowen also has worked with Nicholaw as the dance captain (and an ensemble member) in a
potential Broadway-bound musical of
Robin and the Seven Hoods that’s had a preview run in San Diego.

BACK WHEN: Graham Bowen, 12, and his sister Jessica, 13, pose with Jessica Grove, 12, at the
Hilliard High Schools theater in January 1995 in preparation for a performance of
Oliver Credit: Chris Russell,
Dispatch

Bowen, who grew up in Hilliard as a Methodist, found it easy to relate to
The Book of Mormon because of its ecumenical theme underneath the jokes about Mormon
history and specific beliefs.
“With
The Book of Mormon being from the creators of
South Park, people assume its one type of humor. But they’re able to make fun without
really offending anybody to the core, because it paints the Mormon missionaries and everyone in
such a positive light,” he said.
"While raised Methodist, I'm not strict in my beliefs as an adult. I don't practice a
religion but I can't say that I'm not religious....I still follow a lot of the basis of what I was
brought up with: Be honest, look out for people, don’t take advantage and help where you can."
“Something I really appreciate about the show is.... (its theme) that it doesn’t
really matter what religion you believe and that there’s nothing wrong with following a faith and
sticking to it,” Bowen said.
“What’s important is how we respond to one another and support each other.”

Graham Bowen as a child actor in 2001. File photo

IF YOU GOThe Book of Mormon, usually sold-out months in advance, continues in an open run at the
Eugene O'Neill Theater, 230 W. 49th St. in New York,
For tickets, call 212-239-6200 or visit
www.telecharge.com.